Strawberry curlers first impressions & review ♡ SEARCH FOR HEATLESS CURLS

I've been interested in heated curlers for a while, but I have a pretty big thing against using heat on my hair so one night while searching I found a brand called sleep-in rollers. They cost about £25 for 20 curlers which look around an inch and a half each. 

Being a cheap skate I obviously started a search for a cheaper alternative, plus the sleep-in rollers look quite large which unless your hair is down to your bum isn't gonna do much except make a kink.

I managed to find this person's review and decided I'd give them a go myself

I decided to get 24 of them from this ebay seller for £3.36 - they're sold in loads of places online but this is probably the cheapest you can get them (and they're exactly the same everywhere)

They took around 2 weeks to arrive but I'd rather wait a bit longer than pay triple the price!

They smell a bit plasticy when you take them out the packet so I recommend taking them out as soon as you get them and maybe waiting about a week if you're concerned about it making your hair smelly (especially as your hair is porous, although I haven't noticed any smell in my hair from the packet I opened just before putting them in)

They come with cutely translated instructions that aren't entirely clear but easy enough to follow!

The outside folds (try and) help your hair stay in place

My hair when I started was about 50% dry and my hair is naturally quite straight

When I'd put them all in I used a total of 11 (I'm still glad I have 24 because I'll definitely lose some)

I didn't go straight to bed when I had them in so some of them slipped down/nearly fell out; I'd recommend doing it right before you're about to go into bed to help them stay in place better.

These things are so nice and soft they weren't a problem to lay on at all

5 curlers fell out in my sleep, which still left a curl but you'll see in these picture's the curls are a lot looser than the ones which stayed.

As I thought, I was left with fairly tight curls which I wasn't too bothered about because you can loosen them up yourself and they'll do so naturally throughout the day.

To loosen up the curls I ran my fingers through them and pulled them apart gently. DO NOT BRUSH YOUR HAIR, I did it on one half and... just... frizz... I managed to save it by twirling about inch sized chunks of hair and applying pantene pro v split end serum to the ends (I don't know why it helped, it just did). This also helped with the kind of matted frizzy look/feel my ends had (I know, gross, but I kind of expected it)

Also as expected, the top of my hair had basically no volume so I added a bit of dry shampoo and tied bits from the front of my hair into a mini ponytail which I tucked into itself.

I think if your hair is much longer than mine you won't get away with these, they fell out of mine enough and the only curl I get is on the ends. I think the ideal length of hair for these would be just above the boob, but of course if you're curious you might as well give them a go for £1.68 for 12!

Overall I like the effect they've given my hair and I'm gonna carry on experimenting with these to figure out if there's a way of perfecting the curls. I think with any type of curl that isn't using a curling iron they'll end up a bit uneven and not perfect looking, but for a day-to-day not too much effort and 0 heat way of curling hair, this is a pretty safe bet!

Twisty buns for curly hair ♡ SEARCH FOR HEATLESS CURLS

So while I was waiting for my strawberry curlers (review coming soon) to arrive, I was being impatient and decided I wanted to try and figure out if I could curl my hair without heat. I think I'm gonna start a series of posts called "search for heatless curls" as I hate using heat on my hair but I love how my hair looks curly.

 I've previously done pin-curls, but being lazy as I am I decided I'd give it a go with two buns rather than lots of little swirls.

The only things I used were bobby pins

I know everyone knows what bobby pins are, but I've included a picture to let you know that these ones suck and you should not get them

This is my hair naturally and already dry

I did two spiral buns on the side of my head (I only got a good picture of one). I just twirled my hair around until it naturally started to form a bun then used bobby pins to put it in place. I purposely twirled my hair away from my face rather than towards. 

I then used a spray bottle with water in to dampen the hair; I think if I do it again I would do it on already damp hair

I think I slept on these and it wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but not awful either.

When I took them out I was left with a very relaxed, messy and uneven curl: 

One side had a kink from the bun

It was a bit mental at the back

To disguse the kinks and wildness I put on a headband (from H&M) which worked nicely

As much as I liked how it looked, I unfortunately forgot to put hairspray on so the curls fell within a day. As I said before, if I were to do it again I would do it on damp hair; I think it would help the curls work better.

Overall I think these are a decent, cheap and non-damaging way to get curls. I've only experimented with this once but I think if I practiced I could get the curls a bit neater - but like any wet to dry hairstyle you never really know until the end. 

Tangle Attack Hairbrush - Tangle Teezer Dupe?

So the original Tangle Teezer retails for about £10 which frankly for me is a ridiculously amount for a hair brush. I have however been really interested in it for about a year now since my friend online recommended it and says how she loves it. I've also seen youtubers loving Tangle Teezer style brushes, saying they'd found random dupes on the internet.

Finally someone about a week ago was talking about how they keep their hair in good condition, one of their points being how they have invested in a good hair brush. I'd never thought of this concept before, but it makes sense so I figured I'd give it a go. They didn't actually mention what type of brush they use but I decided that this was the point I wanted to actually search for some sort of Tangle Teezeresk brush, coming across various different things, but this one catching my eye the most:

I got this from ebay seller shop4allsorts for £3.99, who sold all the colours (purple, pink and black) at the same price, whereas the others I had seen sold purple and pink for more then the black (and I wanted purple but refused to pay more haha). It actually says they choose the colour at random but I messaged the seller asking to have a purple if possible which they said was fine.

The outside packaging is, in my opinion, a bit much for such a small product; however I do like knowing no one's had their grubby fingers all in my hair brush. I've touched the Tangle Teezer in store as they have a little hole where you can touch it, and I THINK (don't quote me on this) these bristles may be a tiny TINY bit stiffer than the Tangle Teezer.

It comes with a case you can keep it in, which I believe only the flower pot (£10.99) and compact (12.25) Tangle Teezer offer. Although when I first saw this lid/case thing I thought it was a bit pointless, now I think about it it's quite handy for things like travelling; the bristles won't get squished and if something spills in my bag it won't go all in the bristles. Unlike the Tangle Teezers compact, the lid fully covers the bristles.

The case/lid thing also includes a tiny mirror... which is, nice I guess?

The shape is actually something I really like, I've never owned a hairbrush without a handle however the curvature of this product fits really nicely into the hand.

The bristles alternate between long and short, they also give a kind of massaging effect when it's on your head which I really like. It gets my hair smooth and knot-free really quickly and without pain; it also doesn't leave my hair static which is a big plus.

Overall I really like it and it feels pretty sturdy so hopefully it won't break any time soon.

(My camera has shown the purple colour as more of an indigo, the bottom picture probably represents the colour best but I recommend looking at the professional pictures online for a better colour reference.)

Get Ready With Me ♡ Casual Day

Skin Routine:

Witch oil control foaming face wash

Dove deeply nourishing body wash

Aloe ever-shield deodorant stick

Garnier roll-on eyes

M&S suncream

Aloe moisturising lotion

Make-Up:

Avon calming effects foundation in Ivory

Blistex daily lip conditioner

Lioele skin fix powder pact in 21 (Oil control type) 

ELF Studio powder brush

Too faced shadow insurance

Cover girl eye enhancers quad in Country Woods

Sigma E55 brush

MUA Undressed Palette - Colours 01, 03, 05 (Urban Decay Naked Palette dupes of virgin, naked and buck)

Sigma E70 brush

Helen E pencil in Gold

Revlon Eyelash curler

Barry M lash modelling mascara

Revlon just bitten kissable balm stain in Cherish

Avon lipstick in Baby Lips

Hair:

Batiste dry shampoo in Paisley

Pantene split end serum 

Headband from H&M

Clothes:

Lace top from H&M

White speckled cardigan from H&M 

Trousers from a market in France

Converse shoes

Moon necklace from Ebay

16 Spring/Summer Non-Lipstick Lip Colours

Revlon Lip Butter in Creme Brulee

Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait 

Revlon Lip Butter in Gumdrop

Revlon Lip Butter in Sugar Plum

L'Oreal Rouge Caresse in Fashionista Pink

L'Oreal Rouge Caresse in Nude Ingenue

L'Oreal Rouge Caresse in Dating Coral

Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in Honey

Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in Cherish

Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Celestial

Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Galaxy

Collection Cream Puff Lip Cream in Cotton Candy

Because of the nature of lip stains, it's difficult to take pictures of a lot of them at once because the last one influences the one afterwards, they can also appear very different on different people depending on their original lip colour

17 Berry Crush Lip Stain in Blushin (possibly)

17 Berry Crush Lip Stain in Sleepover (possibly)

Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stain in Honey

Max Factor Lipfinity Lip Stain in 03 (Which I now think is 06)

Swatches, left to right: 17 Berry Crush Lip Stain in Sleepover, 17 Berry Crush Lip Stain in Blushin, Revlon Just Bitten Lip Stain in Honey, Max Factor Lipfinity Lip Stain in 03 (I think now 06)

Ranger 301 Black Matte Goth Boot

This tale began about 2 months ago when grav3yard girl posted this picture on her instagram and I feel in love with these shoes:

I went on the website she said she got them from, and basically they were a ridiculous amount of money along with P+P from the US, so I weeped and decided against it. Plus to me the person selling them looked like she'd bought a pair of shoes, stuck flowers on them then was reselling them, which made me begin my hunt for the original shoe (especially as she shortly after removed her version of the shoe from her website).

THEN, I have no idea how, about a week ago I came across them on Xtremefootwear, I have no idea how I came to be there but I FOUND THE SHOES!! Me being me, now finding out the actual name of the shoe I continued to search the entire internet to see if I could find them cheaper anywhere else, ALAS I could not (although they were cheaper from American websites, the P+P made them ridiculously more) so I decided that £64.49 (reduced from £85.99) + £5.99 P+P (boo P+P) was the best deal I was gonna get. It was around midnight when I got them and basically do not let me anywhere near shopping websites around midnight because all thoughts of savings and budgets for whatever reason are forgotten and SHOES ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!!!!!! (I have since put myself on a clothes/shoes/accessories ban for at least a month, and so far it is going well.)

Xtremefootwear describes them as "3.5 inch heel, Lace up gothic boots, PVC matt finish" and Demonia describes them as "Ranger 301 are a gothic black matte style with laces up the front and chunky 3 1/2" heel and platform". I don't know why they both fail to mention they have a zip up on the inside, especially as in the picture they use it doesn't show one - the only reason I knew/assumed there was is because of grav3yard girls picture as well as searching the shoe on the internet which showed other angles.

The boots:

They arrived this morning and in my Christmas pajamas proceeded to put them on and they are GREAT.  Admittedly at first they were slightly difficult to walk in, simply because they're such a big boot/platform, a style of shoe I've never owned or walked in before; but once I started tottering around I got the hang of it. I haven't yet worn them further than my back garden and am slightly worried about the reactions I will get from people, but since when did other peoples opinions matter?

Unfortunately not real leather, but if they were they'd be a whole lot more money. I'm a UK size 5 and with socks on they fit pretty well, not quite true to size, maybe slightly larger and more like a 5 and a half, but being big boots that go up your leg it doesn't matter too much as they stay on. I have fairly normal/narrow feet and I think if you were someone with slightly wider feet you'd be alright in these.

Overall, I love them and am considering putting my own flowers on them like the picture, but for now I'll leave them alone.

Clara xx


Lookbook featuring boots:

Spring Lookbook video featuring boots:

Directions, Stargazer, Manic Panic, Crazy Colour & Special Effects Comparison & Review

How well a dye works is gonna depend on certain things: what colour your hair was before, what colour you're making it and your specific hair type. If you're reading this I'm gonna assume you know, but I'll point it out anyway: if you're going to dye your hair an unnatural colour and expect it to be as bright as my hair below, the colour needs to be going over a BLONDE. Preferably as white as possible, which is not what I always did hence uneven results. 

I'm super non-picky with how a dye lasts, like I don't mind it fading in loads of places and being uneven or whatever as long as it's still there after 3 washes.

The dye I've mostly used is Directions, simply because the amount of product and the price work it out to be best value for money, and I like their colour range.

Generally, I've liked almost every dye and every colour I've used including:

Lagoon by Directions

Peacock Blue by Crazy Colour

Turquoise by Directions

First dyed

Fading (not fully faded)

Purple Haze (Amplified) by Manic Panic

First Dyed

Fading (not fully faded)

Napalm by Special Effects/FX

First Dyed

Faded

Plume by Stargazer

First dyed (it wasn't quite as dark as this but no camera would show the colour properly)

Fading/Currently

As well as a couple of different stargazer ones when I had brown hair with coloured bits

Generally, I probably like Directions best. The texture of the product isn't too watery nor too thick, I like that it's in a pot so I can get all the product out, it lasts alright, but all of the dyes are semi permanent so none are gonna last perfectly. The way it fades is also something I like, unless the blonde underneath was patchy, it fades altogether and not tooooo patchy (see faded turquoise above).

Stargazer is another favourite, the only reason I don't get it is because I don't like the packaging and there's less product in them than Directions. It lasts well but the only reason I went for it over directions with my purple this time is because I've heard it washes out of hair completely which is what I want (which so far I'm not seeing..) One thing I can say is that it remains vibrant, although my purple hair has faded, it's still bright and not as dull as purple haze by manic panic was when that faded.

Manic Panic: I've only used the amplified version which is supposed to last longer. I used purple haze, purple generally being a colour that is notorious for fading; in comparison to the stargazer purple I currently have, I don't think the "amplified" part is worth the extra money. I did/do love the colour of purple haze though, but I do feel like stargazer is lasting better. The physical consistency of manic panic is slightly more watery than directions - not to say it's runny or anything, just a tad thinner. The packaging of Manic Panic is also something I like, it's in a pot like Directions but a bigger pot - but considering in England the majority of the time you have to buy it online and it is pricey, I don't think it's better than Directions.

Crazy Colour, I found pants. The picture above shows it's already fading, I put it in before going on holiday to France for 2 weeks and it had faded by the end of the holiday - and not nicely. Dull, nasty shades of blue and bits of white everywhere. I'd understand if I went to a hot part of France, where the sun would've bleached it and it'd be understandable, but it wasn't. It was English Spring/Summer weather, not enough to cause it to be as bad as it was. But, referring to my original point, I have a friend who could not for the life of them get fish bowl by crazy colour out of their hair. It remained even, consistent and bright for them even when they bleached/stripped/shoved lemon juice in it; hair type and original colour makes a difference.

But what do you think? What are your experiences? Have I helped you in your wonderful weird hair journey?

Clara xx